Galicia Jewish Museum
Photo: Own work — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków’s Kazimierz district preserves Jewish heritage of Polish Galicia through exhibitions and cultural events.
Planning your visit
The Galicia Jewish Museum takes an approach that distinguishes it from Kraków's other Jewish heritage sites: its core exhibition, "Traces of Memory", is photographic. Chris Schwarz spent twelve years photographing what remains of Jewish life across Polish Galicia — ruined synagogues, overgrown cemeteries, sites of mass murder in forests, buildings still standing but repurposed — and the images are shown with texts by the historian Jonathan Webber.
The effect is different from an object-based museum. Rather than reconstructing a vanished world, it documents its absence in the present landscape, which is what a visitor driving through southern Poland actually encounters. It also refuses to end at 1945, covering the postwar decades and the current small-scale revival of Jewish life.
The museum sits in Kazimierz, Kraków's historic Jewish quarter, and functions as a cultural centre with concerts, lectures and temporary exhibitions alongside the permanent display.
Kazimierz itself repays walking, with several surviving synagogues, though it has become heavily commercialised. Allow an hour for the museum. The main booking is an entry ticket. Current availability is shown below.
Before you book
Where is Galicia Jewish Museum?
Galicia Jewish Museum is in Kraków, Poland. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Galicia Jewish Museum?
Allow an hour for the museum. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
What are the opening hours of Galicia Jewish Museum?
Every day 10:00 – 18:00. Hours change on public holidays, so check the official site before travelling.
Do I need to book Galicia Jewish Museum in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
